ST. GEORGE – The Hurricane Tigers (8-0, 5-0) remained undefeated with a 35-8 win over the Desert Hills Thunder (6-2, 4-1) on Thursday night.
The Tigers wasted no time getting on the board, scoring on their first offensive play of the game when Weston Yardley took the ball around the outside and went 58 yards for the score. After another stop by the Tiger defense, the Tiger offense marched 88 yards on a 11-play drive ending on a Brian Scott three-yard touchdown run, making the score 14-0 after the first quarter. The big play in the drive was a pass from quarterback Taylor Parker to tight end Colton Marshall. Marshall came up big on the night with three catches for 40 yards.
After an exciting first quarter that was dominated by the Tigers, the second was much of the same. The Thunder offense went three and out and had to punt to the Tigers, and once again the Tiger offense marched down the field but the drive stalled at the Thunder 17-yard line, setting up a Tiger field goal attempt. The field goal was the lone Tiger mishap on the night. The snap went over the kicker’s head and the Tigers turned the ball over on downs.
The Thunder took over with pretty good field position and began to march down the field for the first time all game, gaining 42 yards bringing the ball down to the Tiger 29-yard line. With the Thunder threatening for the first time all game, the Tiger defense stepped up in a big way coming up with back-to-back sacks and a pass break up to force the Thunder out of field goal range and making the Thunder go for it on 4 and 18. The pass was incomplete and the Tigers took over with 1:40 seconds left in the half.
The Tigers didn’t take long to score. On first down, Parker threw a 56-yard pass to Yardley. That put the Tigers at the Thunder seven-yard line, setting up first and goal with under one minute to play in the half. And on the very next play, Brian Scott pushed his way up the middle for a seven-yard touchdown run, making the score 21-0 at the half.
Coming out of the half, the Thunder looked ready to try and make a comeback. That was shot down quick when Yardley took the ensuing kickoff 26 yards to give the Tiger decent field position. The Tigers once again marched down the field, mixing up running and passing plays getting the ball all the way down to the Thunder 12-yard line.
The Thunder had their backs against the wall, giving up a touchdown here would have put them down 28 points. The Thunder defense held and forced the Tigers into a fourth down. So on came the field goal unit. But in a game of this magnitude, the Tigers were looking to throw the knockout punch. Just before the snap, the kicker threw the kicking block and the holder went into the shotgun to play quarterback. Backup quarterback Zach Prince hit Yardley for a 12-yard touchdown pass making the score 28-0.
After a Thunder drive ended in a fumble, the Tigers offense took the field. The drive ended three plays later as Adam Thompson took the hand off and went 65 yards for a touchdown.
With the score 35-0 to start the fourth quarter, the starters for both teams never saw the field again. The Thunder would add a late touchdown on a 43-yard pass play from backup quarterback Dylan Staheli to Brad Wulfenstein. The Thunder went for two making the score 35-8.
The Tigers showed why the are the No. 1 team in the state, racking up 420 yards of total offense. Taylor Parker was perfect going 9-9 for 120 yards and a touchdown. Brian Scott ran for 78 yards and two touchdowns. Adam Thompson had 108 yards and a touchdown. The MVP of the game was Weston Yardley who ran for 84 yards and a touchdown as well as 72 yards receiving with a touchdown. In all Yardley had 156 yards of total offense and two touchdowns.
Both teams travel to Cedar on Thursday. The Thunder take on the Cedar Redman and the Tigers take on the Canyon View Falcons. Kickoff for both games is set for 7 p.m.
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